Characterization of aroma compounds and effects of amino acids on the release of esters in Laimao baijiu.

Background: Laimao baijiu is a typical soy‐sauce aroma‐type baijiu in China. Amino acids are non‐volatile compounds in baijiu and are beneficial to human health. Aroma is one of the important indicators that are used to evaluate the quality of baijiu. The interaction between aroma‐active compounds and non‐volatile compounds can also affect the release of aroma compounds. In this study, we identified the active‐aroma compounds and amino acids in Laimao baijiu by stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE), gas chromatography‐olfactometry (GC‐O), gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and ultra‐performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (UPLC‐MS). The interaction between amino acids and key esters was investigated by sensory analysis and partition coefficients. Results: A total of 63 aroma compounds and 21 amino acids were identified. Twenty‐one esters were identified from them as major aroma‐active ester compounds with odor activity values ≥ 1. Finally, sensory analysis revealed that l‐alanine had a significant effect on the strength of the aromas of esters, suggesting that low concentrations of amino acids were more likely to promote the release of esters and high concentrations were more likely to inhibit this. The partition coefficient can be a good explanation for this phenomenon. Conclusion: l‐Alanine can significantly affect the aroma intensity of key ester aroma compounds in Laimao baijiu, and the effects of different concentrations of amino acids are different. This work shows that amino acids, as non‐volatile compounds, have a regulatory effect on the release of aroma compounds in alcoholic beverages, which may provide new technical support for the aroma modulation of alcoholic beverages. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]